Ukraine will increase uranium output and build a factory for nuclear fuel production, President Viktor Yanukovych said on Thursday.
"We have plans to resume uranium production at our deposits and we must build a plant for [nuclear] fuel production," Yanukovych said.
According to Yanukovych, Russia currently holds 100% of the Ukrainian uranium market.
"We'll return 50% to ourselves," Yanukovych said.
The Ukrainian leader said talks had almost been completed under which Russia would provide almost 100% financing for the construction of two power units at the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant.
There are four nuclear power plants in Ukraine while Russian corporation TVEL is the monopoly supplier of nuclear fuel for them.
Ukraine has its own uranium reserves but lacks production capacities for uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel production.
Two new power units at the Khmelnitsky plant are designed to compensate for the capacities of the Chernobyl NPP, which was halted after the world's largest nuclear power disaster in 1986.
KIEV, April 22 (RIA Novosti)
